Eric Holder To State AGs: You Don’t Have To Defend Gay Marriage Bans

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged his state-level counterparts to recognize that they’re not required to defend any state ban on same-sex marriage, speaking to The New York Times on Monday. Holder argued that attorneys general should apply significant scrutiny to laws — like gay marriage bans — that raise constitutional issues before deciding to defend them. “Engaging in that process and making that determination is something that’s appropriate for an attorney general to do,” he told the Times. Holder has been a vocal proponent of social justice as attorney general, refusing to legally defend the portion of the Defense of Marriage Act that banned the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages sanctioned by the states — a move that ultimately led to the Supreme Court declaring that part of the law unconstitutional last summer. For more, click here.